Two days ago, I wrote about the origin of the word ‘grenade.’
In response a reader has asked me to explain the source of the word ‘shrapnel.’
The connection is a good one, since what makes grenades so deadly in battle these days is the shrapnel—the flying pieces of sharp metal that the grenade’s explosion sprays all over the place.
It is the shrapnel rather than the explosion itself that causes most of the death and injury.
Grenades designed to splinter into deadly shrapnel have been used in combat since 1901.
But the idea of explosive devices designed to blow deadly bits of metal far and wide is much older than that.
And here is the interesting bit—the word ‘shrapnel’ comes from a man’s name.
Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842) was a British army officer who fought in the Napoleonic wars and invented the ‘shrapnel shell’ which was (fairly obviously!) named after him.
In 1784 he began to experiment with hollow cannonballs filled with lead shot that burst in mid-air.
These rather nasty things are called ‘anti-personnel’ weapons, because they don’t aim to blow up buildings (or ships) but to cut down people.
He rose to the rank of lieutenant general on 10 January 1837.
He joins a long list of people whose names have become words in the English language (technically they become ‘eponyms’): sandwich (from John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich); diesel (from Rudolf Diesel who invented—guess what!); boycott (from Irish landowner Charles Boycott); biro (from Laszlo Biro who inspired the ballpoint pen); guillotine (invented as a painless method of execution by Dr Joseph Guillotin); and a host of others.
And we now know that Henry Shrapnel belongs on that list.
My latest column at News24 Online (formerly Sky News Online) is about Pauline Hanson -- have a look and let me know if you agree with my analysis -- here's the link: 'The People vs The Authority': The two-word label that aptly describes Pauline Hanson’s biggest enemy in Canberra as her polling surge reshapes the political landscape | News24
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* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
